How had he been so blessed to know this woman? How had it all begun? Some fell in love with a simple glance. Some dated for years and years before realizing they loved one another. Some never found “the one.” But for Kevin, love had come in the strangest of ways. One might say it was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. Or that it was a miracle. Whatever the case, his life had changed forever just one short year ago. It was a week of vacation he would never forget.
As his mind focused back on the scene before him and his future wife took her first step down the aisle, Kevin whispered a breathless, “Angela…”
Chapter One
Friday, October 5th
One Year Earlier
The day started like any other day for Kevin. Get up, drive to work, do the job, and wait. Then came the brief time he and the other workers looked forward to: break time. Fifteen minutes of sitting with the guys and hanging out around the water cooler—or the break room, as it were. Fifteen minutes of jawing about trivial things. Fifteen blissful minutes without some customer jumping on his back or down his throat. One of these days he wouldn’t be on the call floor. He would work his way up to some cushy position where he could sit back in an office—not a cubicle. He would be the boss.
With this pleasant thought in his mind, Kevin walked into the break room. There they were, Mark, Jerry, Fred, and Tom—the guys. Feet were propped up on tables, chairs, and every available elevated surface. Soda cans were popped open as laughter filled the room.
The guys weren’t the only ones on break, however. In the opposite corner sat Angela. Angela Jones. A newspaper was clutched in her hand, and a pencil tapped against her pearly white teeth. Click, click, click.
During her breaks, she worked the daily puzzle. That day, as she pondered the words, her glasses slipped down her nose, and Kevin caught a glimpse of her chocolate-colored eyes. Despite the florescent-lit room, her hair shone like the color of honey.
Kevin focused his gaze on her movement. Whenever she concentrated, she had a habit of twisting her hair around her first two fingers. Would she do it now?
Before Kevin could observe her actions, his thoughts were interrupted. “Hey Kevin!” Jerry yelled, motioning him over to the table and offering him a seat.
“How’s it going on the floor today?” asked Mark. He worked in the technical department of the call center, solving computer problems. When a computer was on the blink, Mark was the one responsible for troubleshooting. Kevin couldn’t help but be jealous. He spent his time at work placing orders and haggling with irate customers. Truth was, Mark enjoyed one of the benefits of getting a college degree—more money and less boredom.
“Not bad,” Kevin answered.
“I hear someone’s taking some time off.” Jerry leaned in closer and whispered, “Planning on spending any quality time with your girlfriend Angela?”
Kevin was used to the good-natured ribbing. They’d pestered him for details ever since the one time he’d taken Angela out. But he hadn’t given in then, and he wasn’t likely to give in now. It was none of their business how the date had gone.
“No, man,” Fred piped up. “He ain’t using his time off to date no girl. He has big plans, right? You’re flying to Paris or going to Cancun or something, right? Go ahead; tell them I’m right.” Fred leaned back in his chair with a smug look.
Boy was Kevin about to burst his bubble.
“Well, I do have plans, but nothing along those lines. I was thinking I’d use this week to do some things around the house. I mean, I haven’t mowed the yard in so long it looks like a jungle. Then I have a gutter, that is constantly leaking, that I need to fix. Then I need to redo some of the pavers on my patio out back. Not to mention all the things inside the house.”
Kevin noticed their astonished faces. Tom spoke first, breaking the spell. “You know what? I was watching one of those talk shows the other day.”
“Oh no, here we go again. Either it’s Dr. Phil with some word of wisdom or Jerry Springer where someone got the snot beat out of them. Next, he’ll be quoting words of wisdom from the tabloids. Like last week when he claimed there was a monkey man running through his yard.”
Tom sat up straighter. “Hey, now! The monkey man story was true. Scientists proved the whole thing! And I didn’t say it was in my yard. I said the creature was in my neighbor’s yard. You need to listen better. One of these days you are going to wish you’d listened to old Tom. Now hush, and let me finish. Sometimes it is impossible for a man to get a word in edgewise around here. Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I was watching this talk show and there was this guy and he was saying how all he does is sit around on his can because his wives do everything.”
No one said anything and Tom began to look frustrated. “Didn’t you hear me?”
“Yeah, we heard you. You said his wife does everything.” Jerry shrugged, apparently not understanding why it was such a big deal.
“No, I didn’t say his wife did everything; I said his wives do everything. The guy had like ten wives or something. He said he had one for every chore! Now if you had some women, then you could just sit back and relax on your vacation. Your wives would just take care of everything. They’d do all the cleaning you were talking about, and then you could go on some exotic vacation. That’s the ticket.”
Mark said, “Sure. Sounds great. Kevin could have one to cook the meals, one to clean the house, one to make the money, one to spend the money, one to have the babies—if you know what I mean—one to take care of the yard, and then one as a spare. Hey, how many did I say, like seven? Yeah, seven gives you one woman for every day of the week!”
“Sure, what a plan,” Kevin agreed. “I’ll just run out and find seven women and hook up real quick so they can stay home this week and clean for me.” Kevin shook his head and rolled his eyes. Honestly, his friends were crazy.
Jerry clasped his hands together tightly. “Well I think if you want more than one wife, you should have to live with all of them at the same time. Like Solomon of old”
“Oh, wisdom from one who knows. By the way Jerry, when do we get to meet this mystery wife of yours?”
Jerry shifted in his seat.
Nothing more was said on the subject as the break bell rang and each of the men stood up and headed back to their stations. Before they left the room completely, Mark asked, “So are we on for tomorrow night?”
“I’ve done my part,” said Kevin.
“Good. That means you didn’t forget the food like Tom did last time.”
Tom drew his eyebrows downward. “Well, excuse me, Mark. But I don’t use sticky notes to remind myself, I don’t have my parents to remind me, and I don’t have a wife.”
Fred asked, “And how did Kevin remember?”
“Who knows? Who cares? I’m just glad we are getting together for the barbeque. We do it so little nowadays.” Tom shot a sideways glance toward Jerry, but he was already gone down the hallway and back to his station.
No one spoke as they headed out into the hall. As he walked through the opening of his cubicle, Kevin glanced over his shoulder at Angela. Her head was still bent as she studied the black words written on the paper in front of her.
Kevin wondered what she thought of the guys and their conversations. They had discussed everything from getting together to the benefits of polygamy. Shaking his head and snorting under his breath, he thought, Seven wives, indeed.
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